Thai developer LH Q4 net profit down, tops forecasts

BANGKOK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Land & Houses LH.BK(LH), Thailand's biggest housing firm, reported a smaller-than-expected 41 percent fall in quarterly earnings on Monday.

LH said in a statement it earned a net profit of 752 million baht ($23.3 million) in the three months ended December 31, down from 1.28 billion baht a year earlier and 1.18 billion baht in the third quarter.

The result beat an average forecast of 702 million baht from 13 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

Its 2007 net profit fell to 3.16 billion baht from 3.25 billion baht in 2006. Analysts forecast a net profit of 3.11 billion baht for the year.

LH is 12.3 percent owned by the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. It specialises in prebuilt estates for middle income buyers and realises revenues within two weeks of a sale.

Shares in LH, which has a market value of about $2.30 billion, rose 2.7 percent in the October-December quarter, higher than a 1.5 percent rise on the main Thai stock market .SETI. ($1=32.28 Baht) (Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Michael Battye)